Omnipresence from Steven Kaufman's blog

Of course God

is omnipresent and omniscient.

 

Is not clay omnipresent

in a piece of pottery?

 

And because Consciousness is the clay

from which the Universe is moulded,

that which is everywhere present

is also all-knowing.

 

The omnipresence and omniscience

of what we call God,

of what we call Consciousness,

is nothing special,

for it is simply a function

of the nature of the Universe

which includes the nature of That

of which the universe is composed.

 

It is only because we see the Universe

as being composed

of something other than God,

of something other than Consciousness

that it seems so special

that the Universe is pervaded

by That out of which it has been constructed

and so by That of which it is actually composed.

 

That the universe contains

something other than God,

something other than Consciousness,

is an illusion.

 

That which the universe contains

that is other than God,

that is other than Consciousness,

is an illusion.

 

The illusion is not separate from God,

not separate from Consciousness,

for the illusion has God-Consciousness

as its source.

 

But the illusion,

although not separate from God,

although not separate from Consciousness,

is still not That.

 

As a shadow

cannot be separated from the light

that is its source,

so it is that experiential form,

emotional, mental, and physical,

cannot be separated from the Consciousness

that is its source.

 

But a shadow,

while inseparable from the light

that is its source,

is still not that.

 

And experiential form,

while inseparable from the Consciousness

that is its source,

is still not That.

 

Both shadows and form are appearances,

and appearances are something other

than what is actually there

where the appearance

appears to be.

 

A shadow is an appearance

that is superimposed upon

what only seems to be

what is actually there.

 

A shadow is an appearance

superimposed upon an appearance,

because a shadow is an experiential form

superimposed upon experiential form.

 

Experiential form is an appearance

superimposed upon That

which cannot appear

as an experience,

as a form,

because it is formless.

 

Experiential form is an appearance

superimposed upon

the formless Consciousness

that is actually there

where all experiential forms

only appear to be.

 

That Consciousness

could contain within Itself

something other than Itself

seems absurd and impossible.

 

But what Consciousness

contains within Itself

that is not Itself

is not something

that is actually there

but is something that only appears

to be actually there,

as a shadow only appears

to be a something

that is actually there.

 

And so there is nothing within God

that Is,

that is not God.

 

And there is nothing within Consciousness

that Is,

that is not Consciousness.

 

That which only appears to be,

that which only appears as what is,

is that within God

that is not God,

is that within Consciousness

that is not Consciousness.

 

And so of course God pervades the Universe

because what appears as the Universe

of experiential forms

are just very colorful shadows

superimposed upon

the formless Consciousness

that is actually there

where those experiential forms

only appear to be.

 

God pervades

what seems to be there,

what appears to be there,

because God is

What Is Actually There.

 

Consciousness pervades

what seems to be there,

what appears to be there,

because Consciousness is

What Is Actually There.

 

That there is something actually there

other than God,

other than Consciousness,

is an illusion made possible

by the shadows of experiential form

that come into existence

within What Is Actually There,

where What Is Actually There meets Itself

in agreed upon opposition to Itself,

as a line arises and so exists

where a hand has agreed to have

the tips of two fingers meet.

 

When this illusion

is not known to be an illusion,

when what appears to be there

is not known to be 

only an appearance,

then the reality of experiential form

obscures the greater Reality,

obscures the underlying Actuality,

that is its source,

and so hides in plain sight

the greater Reality and Actuality

from Itself,

as a reflection not known as reflection,

not known as only appearance,

hides in plain sight

the mirror within which it arises.

 

Obscured from Itself

the greater Realty

is left only with form

to think of and know

as itself.

 

And so the cosmic Self

becomes hidden from Itself

behind what are only shadows,

behind what is only

a mask of experiential form.

 

It only surprises Consciousness 

to realize Itself as being everywhere

when Consciousness first steps out

from the shadows of experiential form,

which it wore as a mask

that kept hidden from Itself

its own ubiquitous Presence.

 

If you think that what is actually there

is really a rock

composed of matter and energy,

if you think that what is actually there

is only the appearance,

and the names we give to that appearance,

which names are themselves only an appearance,

shadows superimposed upon a shadow,

then it seems either unbelievable or surprising

that what is actually there,

where the rock appears to be,

is pervaded by Consciousness.

 

But if you can understand

that what is actually there

where the rock appears to be

is Consciousness

moving in relation to Itself,

flowing in relation to Itself,

and in that movement and flow

taking on a transient Form

that appears to us,

with our particular sensors,

as the even more transient form

that is the experience we call rock,

then the idea

that what is actually there,

where the rock appears to be,

is pervaded by Consciousness

becomes as obvious as the idea

that a pot made from clay

is pervaded by clay.

 

And once this idea becomes obvious

which idea is itself only a form,

only an appearance,

then the direct realization

of What Is Actually There

beyond all appearances

is not far behind.

 

Because once the illusion

is known as illusion,

once the appearance

is known as appearance,

instead of as

what is actually there,

then its power to obscure

What Is Actually There

simply vanishes,

as the power of a reflection

to obscure a mirror

simply vanishes

the moment the reflection

is no longer being taken,

and so is no longer mistaken,

for what is actually there

where it only ever

appeared to be.

 

And so the power of maya

by which the Formless

appears as the Universe of form

does not lie in the illusion,

does not lie in the appearance,

but lies only within the Beingness

only within the Consciousness,

that sees the appearance

as what is actually there,

and so turns

what is only an appearance

into an illusion

and so turns the appearance,

and so turns the experience,

into something

that appears to have the power

to hide Beingness from Itself.

 

And so any power an appearance has

to become an illusion

that hides Beingness from Itself

comes only from Beingness

that continues to entangle Itself

in the appearance,

that continues to mistake itself

for the appearance.

 

And so Beingness

that has disentagled Itself

from all appearances

does not give to appearances

the power they need

to become the illusion

that hides Beingness from Itself.

 

The power to obscure

does not ultimately lie in the veil

but ultimately lies only in That

which causes the veil to arise.

 

The power to obscure

does not lie in the creation,

only in the Creator.

 

And what is obscured

is never the creation,

but only the Creator.

 

But the only Creator

that is ever obscured

is only that Creator

which is mistaking itself

for what are only

its own creations,

for what are only

appearances and shadows

that arise within Itself,

that are created within Itself,

that come into existence within Itself,

as it flows in relation to Itself.

 

Do not abdicate your throne,

the throne of the Actual,

to what is only an appearance,

because to do so is to live in service

to the appearance,

to the imposter we call ego,

to which you have unknowingly

given your crown.